The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1887-04-02

indirectly shares with you. and which
you as farmers, share with every other
class of producers Following the usual
classification of property under the two
general heads of real estate and personal
property, the opinion is generally held by
financial writers, that the market value of
the aggregate OF land, and that Of the
aggregate of all other kinds of productive
capital are about equal In other words,
that the aggregate value Of real and per-
sonal property closely approximate. and
are about the same. Keeping this theory
III mind, let US see how the present val
uation and assessment Of these two gen
eral classes Of property conform in Cecil
county.
PRESENT VALUATION OF PROPERTY.
The present general valuation or asses.
sible basis OF all kinds of property sub
ject to taxation in the county is GA 1885,
G55. By the rule just laid down, the as
sessed valuation of the real estate, al.d of
the personal property should be each
about seven millions, or if exactly stated,
should be each about s., 0S4, 321. But in
fact, of this general valuatian Of over four
teen millions, over eleven millions are as
sessed upon lands and their improve
ments and appurteuances. Deduct ION
this sum the real estate valuation of
seven towns i'll the county 81 1902 ,004, we
have So, 33J3 664, as the assessed value of
the 2l2 3i3 acres of land in it, including
the improvements on these lands. 1t may
surprise some OF you to know, that this
is an average assessment of over ga. per
acre, on every acre of land in the county.
But before turning from this excessive
valuation by average acreage, to compare
1t with the gross assessment of other
classes of property, it is but proper to add
to this gross valuation of land and build
iugs, three other items, viz Live stock,
farm implements, and household furI i
ture, as embraced within and constitu-
ting that technical word-plant, the
agricultural plant of Cecil county.
Assessed valuation of lands and
buildings. ...................S 50 1858 ,Gd4
Add valuation of live stock in
county exclusive OF its towns. go, S9l
Add valuation OF farm Implements
exclusive of its towns........ pa, O69
Add valuation OF household farm
iture exclusive of its towns. 29l, 194
Aud we have grand tot Il of Sl0, JS9, SIG
as the assessed value of the industrial
plant of the farmers of Cecil county.
This is equivalent to tax of 40 -
upon every acre OF land in the county
lJ covers every species of property he
owns, beginning with his pitchfork, and
extending to his steam thresher la live
stock nothing is exempted except his
chickens. This one Item not being much
to cro'c over. 1t is not in view of these fig
ures reck less assertion to say, that tie pro-
perty Of tie farmers Of Cecil county is as
sssssd far dJocs its actual cash culoe.
Personal PROPERTY.
This much for tho real estate assess
ment in this county. Now let us see
what proportion of the burden of taxa
ton personal property bears. Recurring
again to the general rule. our county as.
sessment books should show about oAe-
and one quarter millions. Instead of
that it only shows a total Of $2,1l2 9S7.
or less than of what i: should show. A
cursory examination of the assessment OF
personal property i'll the county shows
glaringly its discrepancies and deticien-
cieS, aud which grow cut of the plain
and palpabe detects of system which
in theory subjects all real aud personal
property to one "HVorm rate IF assessment.
Oar experience in Cecil, and which is
shared by every other county in the state
is precisely that of every other State in
which this system is in vogue. What
commentary upon the injustice not to say
the iniquity of this system, is the fact
that Mr.. Robert Garrett president of the
B. X O. railroad system, is assessed in
B ,ltimore for only $l2, 900 worth of per-
sonal property, while he aud other men
vested i'll those great repositories of per
sonal property, banks and railroads, to
say nothing of princely establishments
adorned with works of art, and all the
luxuries which colossal wealth affords.
Such instances simply emphasize the Ian
guage of decision OF the L. 5. Supreme
Court which declares, that Ito lay with
one hand the power of the government on
the property OF the citizen, and with the
other bestow it on favored individuals, to
aid private enterprises, and build up pri-
vate fortunes, is none the less robbery,
because it is done under the forms of
law, and is called taxation
LOCAL HISTORY.
Equality and certainty in assessment
and collection being the two primary
conditions of a reasonably equitable sys-
TEN OF taxation, let US consider just =
moment how the latter condition parti-
cularly is violated by IA constantly dimin-
ishing ratio of assessment of personal
property, covering successive decades in
our local history. In 1866 we had re-
assessment of the property of the county,
the taxable basis of the county previous
to that year being only s., 0l3. $50. The
re assessment of the year 1866, added
over six millions to the basis of assess
ment, the total valuation of that year
being I'll 66i 36S. And yet the fact is
very noticeable, that when we had taX.
able basis OF only S millions we had very
nearly as large an assessment of personal
property as We have now, since in 1SS4 it
was valued at -, ll6, 1O6, while in 1887 it is
only -, 16S 9l3 exclusive of stock valua-
tions. Who will undertake to deny that
the accumulation OF personal estates has
not been as rapid during the % years,
from 1864 to 1887 as the increase in the
value of the real estate of the county"
And yet the evidence is incontrovertibe,
that during the two and one-third de-
cades that measure that period, the as
sessment OF personal property rapidly ran
down, until the decade being complete
a new assessment brought it up again,
only to have this diminishing process re-
peatsd as the succeeding decade grew
older. In 1871 the maximum was reached :,
when the ratio OF assessment of personal
to real WAS To t. or pxactly stated